UBS in Final Talks With Prosecutors, BAC Comments on Fannie & Freddie: Financial Business Review

UBS (NYSE:UBS) is now in final negotiations with American, British and Swiss authorities to resolve claims that its employees reported false rates in a deal in which the bank’s Japanese division is expected to plead guilty to a criminal charge, say knowledgeable sources, who added that UBS could face about $1 billion in penalties and regulatory sanctions. United States prosecutors are said to be close to obtaining a guilty plea from a UBS subsidiary of the first big bank to agree to criminal charges in more than ten years. In June, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) agreed to shell out $450 million to settle accusations that it influenced crucial benchmarks.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) announced Friday the finalization of an offering of around 234.2 million shares of AIG common stock by the Treasury Department which received proceeds of about $7.6 billion from the sale. The sale of the last of the Treasury’s remaining shares of AIG represents the full settlement of the government’s financial support of the firm.

The NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announced late Thursday that its board has named its Interim Chairman as Börje E. Ekholm. Ekholm has been the interim chairman since May 25th of this year, subsequent to the retirement from the board of Chairman H. Furlong Baldwin.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) said on Friday that the taxpayer-supported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should remain as policymakers come up with the right balance of government support for home purchases. Moynihan also commented that it is regulatory uncertainty that is keeping the return of private capital to the mortgage market, however, cautioning that Fannie and Freddie should not be eliminated without first building a housing finance system for future use.